FAFLRT Practices and Guidelines for the Archives

Practices

The ALA Archives are kept by the University Archives of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. All materials should be sent to FAFLRT Archivist who will send the files to the University Archives after making sure they are ready. Use the following address: Lucille M. Rosa
Head of Technical Services
Naval War College Library
Code 1E1
686 Cushing Rd.
Newport, RI 02841-1207 As the Annual Conference approaches, all elected and appointed officers and committee members should go through their working files and set aside all materials that are no longer of current or possible use for them or for their successors in the next ALA year. Items of a historical nature such as lists of previous office-holders/committee chairs and members/award winners/etc. should be kept for reference, but photocopies should be turned into the archives as well. Policy manuals and copies of actions/reports/etc., concluded during the immediate past year should be retained for the next year as historical reference as well. All other materials should be retained or culled according to the guidance below and those retained should be turned over to the FAFLRT Archivist at the end of the Annual Conference for the Archives.

Guidelines

The Archivist in charge of the ALA Archives at the University of Illinois provided the following guidelines for materials that should or should not be transferred to the Archives: Records for transfer include but are not limited to the following materials that are no longer of possible use for reference purposes:

Official records:

Old editions of policy manuals, bylaws, minutes and proceedings, transcripts, lists of officers and member, etc.

Photographs, sound recordings, videotapes, charts, maps, etc. Persons, places, occasions, etc., should be identified on photographs, but do not write in pen on the backs of photographs. Instead use no. 2 lead pencils and print information on the back around the outer edges of the photographs. Similar identification should be provided on labels or attached sheets for sound recording and videotapes.

Publications:

One record copy of all programs, journals, monographs, newsletters, brochures, posters, and announcements issued by the round table or its subdivision.

Personal papers:

Papers of members which relate directly to the round table work.

Records that should not be transferred to the archives include:

All blank forms and unused printed or duplicated materials.

All duplicate material – keep only the original copy and annotated copies

Records of specific financial and membership transactions unless of unique significance to the round table’s history.

Papers, reports, work papers, and drafts that have been published or issued in a final format.

Replies to questionnaires if the results are recorded and preserved either in the archives or in a published report.

Letters of transmittal where the date and routing information is on the document transmitted.

Requests for publications or information after the requests have been filled.

Letters of appointment to committee chairs, provided that such letters do not contain additional information.

Material should be transferred to the FAFLRT Archivist in the order in which the records creator/holder maintained it. A letter briefly identifying the material and describing the activity to which it relates should accompany the material. When in doubt about retaining or discarding the material, keep it. The FAFLRT Archivist can contact the ALA Archivist for assistance in disposal matters.